


Now Suffer All the Children

by TheBluestBluebird



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Missing Scene, United States of Auradon (Disney) Is Not Perfect, alternate universe where there is at least one (1) competent teacher in this entire school
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:21:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27014179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBluestBluebird/pseuds/TheBluestBluebird
Summary: “Yeah, no. You want us, underage kids, to sign a binding contract to you, the most powerful magic user on this side of the barrier? I don’t know what your Auradon brats are willing to do for you, but we aren’t going to sign anything until there’s proof that this isn’t going to backfire.”“Exactly!” Evie echoes.
Relationships: Evie & Jay & Mal & Carlos de Vil
Comments: 9
Kudos: 149





	Now Suffer All the Children

**Author's Note:**

> I watched Descendants for the first time in quarantine, and wow. These kids have been living in my head rent-free for the better part of six months now. This is part of a larger AU I might finish someday where bringing new kids into a school partway through the year has...significantly more consequences than it does in the movie, but I think it works fine on its own too! 
> 
> Disclaimer: Disney, Descendants, and all of these characters don't belong to me. I'm just playing in the sandbox, not making the sand.

(this scene takes place in a larger universe where the first Descendants movie doesn’t completely ignore all of the messier logistics of bringing new kids into a boarding school. This particular scene is drawing on some truly incredible interactions I’ve had while trying to get kids to sign behavior contracts.)

Fairy Godmother lays out the forms on each desk with a smile. Mal glances at the header. _Housing agreement for 9-12th grades_ , the paper reads. What the fuck is this? They’re supposed to have guaranteed housing, secured by the school. Is Fairy Godmother going to kick them out of their rooms? Sure, Mal kind of hates the stupid pink-and-sunlit bedroom they’ve stuck her in, but she’s sure as hell not going to cooperate with their stupid school program if they’re already backing out on her housing.

Mal glances around at the others. Evie is also skimming over the paper, eyes flicking back and forth faster than Mal can follow. Good. Someone is going to need to know what this says to back her up when she throws a fit. A glance over at the boys reveals less promising results. Carlos is glaring blankly at Fairy Godmother, like he’s been doing since yesterday, when she pulled him aside to ask some kind of stupid questions about the results of their physicals, and Jay looks like he’s given up on reading the paper, and seems to be trying to drive his pencil into the desk instead.

Before Mal can open her mouth to start the complaining, Fairy Godmother claps her hands.

  
“Now!” She announces. “As you can see on the desks in front of you, we here at Auradon Prep have a student contract that you’ll all need to sign before classes start!” She looks around the room, as if to make sure her wayward students are listening to this riveting information. They aren’t, but she keeps talking anyway. “Now, usually, we would have one of your dorm monitors go over this with you at the housing meeting, but considering the circumstances, we thought it might be best for us to go over this together, before you go out and join the rest of your floor this weekend.”

Mal raises her hand, and then starts talking before Fairy Godmother can call on her. “What circumstances?”

Fairy Godmother opens her mouth to answer, but before she can get a word in, Carlos turns around in his seat to look at Mal. “She means the knives, swamp brain, and probably our clothes too.”

Evie’s mouth drops open. “There’s nothing wrong with our clothes!” she exclaims.

Before either of them can succeed in lunging across the desks to get at the other, Fairy Godmother raps her stick on the blackboard. “Children!”

Mal is a little preoccupied trying to cover Evie’s mouth before she can say anything else that’s going to get them going again, but based on the sounds from the boy’s desk, they’re having a similarly good time keeping up the rivalry act. Something falls over, and then Fairy Godmother is rapping her stick again. “Children!” She shouts.

Evie goes limp in her arms, and Mal slides them both back around to face the front. Fairy Godmother looks exasperated. “I expect you to listen to me when I am speaking. Yes, the knives that you threatened the staff with are one of the issues that I wanted to discuss today. Your clothes, while not traditional, are a way of expressing yourselves, and I would never want to stifle your beautiful youthful creativity by asking you to dress exclusively to Auradonian standards.”

Mal raises an eyebrow. “Standards?”

Evie giggles. “I don’t think she knows what standard means,” she whispers. “Look at those _shoes_.”

Fairy Godmother is ignoring them. “However, if there is anything else you need, maybe soap, or hygiene products, we would be happy to get those for you. Just ask me, or one of your dorm leaders, and we would love,” she pauses, making sure to look at each of them in turn. “Just love to help you get what you need.”

Jay shoves his elbow into Carlos. “She’s saying you smell, dude.”

Carlos narrows his eyes. There’s something that looks like a pen in his hand, but based on the death grip he has on it, and the way that the cap looks suspiciously spikier than it has last night, it’s probably been turned into a weapon by now. “Shut the fuck up.”

Before they can get into anything more than threats, the Fairy Godmother is down in front of their shared desk with her hands spread wide. “Excuse me, Gentlemen? Is this how we speak to our classmates here in Auradon?”

Mal interrupts. “Sorry about them, Fairy Godmother.”

“Yeah, sorry you stink.”

Fairy Godmother, who had been turning to look at Mal and Evie, spins back towards the boys again and smacks her stick down between them. “Gentlemen, we do not speak to our friends that way!” she admonishes, “That is not fitting behavior for Auradon Prep students, and this is exactly the kind of thing that I was hoping not to see from you two. Now, I want each of you to take one of these, read it over, and return it to me once you’ve signed the last page. Any questions?”

Mal raises her hand. Fairy Godmother sighs. “Yes, Mal?”

  
Mal waves the stack of papers. “Are we seriously supposed to just sign this?” she asks. She might not be up to Auradon Prep academic standards, but she’s not stupid. Signing a contract isn’t something to do as lightly as Fairy Godmother seems to be suggesting it is, and if there’s one thing living with the former most powerful fairy in the land has taught Mal, it’s that a contract with any magical being isn’t something to make without considering every possible angle, even if it seems as straightforward as promising good behavior in exchange for room and board.

Fairy Godmother’s forehead wrinkles. “It’s a standard student contract.” she explains. “Your classmates have all signed one already.”

Mal rolls her eyes. “Yeah, no. You want us, underage kids, to sign a binding contract to you, the most powerful magic user on this side of the barrier? I don’t know what your Auradon brats are willing to do for you, but we aren’t going to sign anything until there’s proof that this isn’t going to backfire.”

“Exactly!” Evie echoes. Good. At least Mal has some backup here that’s not the pair of assholes in the other desk. Who are-- yep. Still playing with their stupid pens. She’ll have to find out what Carlos did to them later, if they’re still interesting enough to be worth ignoring her plans over.

Fairy Godmother seems to be grasping for a polite way to tell Mal to go to hell. “Well. I never--” she tries, and then stops. Finally, she settles for saying, “I’m sure you’re a credit to your upbringing, Mal. It’s very wise to think through a contract before you sign it, but it is not polite for a child to issue such a challenge to an adult, especially when we are the ones looking out for your best interests here at Auradon prep.”

Mal stares at her. Fairy Godmother looks uncomfortable. Good. Adults shouldn’t be allowed to speak over children just because they claim to have their best interests in mind. If Fairy Godmother isn’t going to come up with a better defence for her stupid contract, Mal is going to let her sit in her own uncomfortable silence until she does.

“Well.” Fairy Godmother tries. None of the villian kids moves a muscle. Now, of course, Mal’s band of merry assholes is choosing to take their cues from their leader. Mal can feel a stand of hair sliding into her eyes, but she refuses to be the one to break position to brush it back. Even after making full use of the shower last night, Mal can still feel the dirt still clinging to the strands, and she hopes that Fairy Godmother can tell. They’re rotten, damnit, and no matter how many good-kid contracts and hot showers Auradon throws at them, they’re always going to be this way.

Fairy Godmother breaks first. “Would it be sufficient if I fetched Prince Ben to vouch for the contract?” she asks. “He’s signed it himself, you know.” she adds, almost like an afterthought.

Mal smiles at her. “That would be sufficient.” she says.

Next to her, Evie bounces a little bit on the bench, eager to please as always. “Thank you, Fairy Godmother.” she adds. Playing the sweet one, that’s Evie’s angle. She makes such a convincing airhead that Mal sometimes forgets how smart she actually is. Surely, Fairy Godmother isn’t going to see through any act that can fool an Islander.

Sure enough, Fairy Godmother relaxes a bit at Evie’s bright smile. “You’re welcome, dearest.” she says, and hurries out of the room without another look back.


End file.
